Brewster on Florida Birds. 4 1 



A great change too was apparent in the abundance and variety 

 of animal life. Butterflies floated about the openings, the reeds 

 were tipped with slender dragon-flies and on a half-submerged 

 log where the sun rested lay a long line of turtles, many of them 

 of great size and brilliant coloring. Dozens of alligators were in 

 sight, some floating in mid-stream, others basking along the shores 

 while one hugh fellow monopolized a mud bank near at hand and 

 turned his sunken eye on us with an expression of fierce but 

 sleepy curiosity. 



Birds of various species, especially aquatic kinds, were in great 

 abundance. With every turn of the stream Wood Ducks and 

 Hooded Mergansers rose before our boat or led their broods of 

 ducklings among the water plants while an occasional Florida Gal- 

 linule peeped out from behind a lily leaf, then quietly drew back 

 or perhaps pattered oft", half running, half flying over the surface. 

 Herons of several species were continually in sight. Now five 

 or six Blue Egrets {Ardca cccritlea) flapped heavily from the 

 sedge and alighted on the surrounding trees, while a graceful 

 Louisiana Heron, too intent on its morning meal to notice our 

 approach, stalked through the shallows. Or a tall White Egret 

 appeared on a distant point, its erect form and snowy plumage 

 contrasting finelv with the dark back-ground. 



The Floi'ida Cormorants and their curious relatives, the Water 

 Turkies {Plotus anhinga) , were also among the characteristic 

 birds. The latter species interested me greatly. We usually saw 

 them in the upper branches of the trees where thev sat well out 

 over the stream and craned their long, slender necks to obtain a 

 better view of us. Sometimes one was perched on a snag not 

 more than a yard or two above the water, intently watching the 

 surface like a Kingfisher. But as we drew nearer it would drop 

 into the river and just showing its snake-like head for a moment 

 would sink again and be seen no more. 



Woodpeckers were, as a rule, less numerous here than among 

 the cypresses, but there were numbers of the Pileated and Red- 

 bellied species, and we saw a single pair of the rare Ivory- 

 bills. The latter swept across the stream, the male leading, and 

 alighted against the trunk of a palmetto. They were very shy, 

 restlessly swinging from tree to tree, and taking good care to keep 

 beyond gun-range. Their motions were characterized by great 

 energy and animation and the sound of their powerful blows on the 



